Abstinence
by Ashliebelle
Summary: A spirited young woman reports a rape, armed with bags of evidence she collected herself, learned from watching the show LA Sex Crimes. Her odd, happy behavior mixes poorly with evidence found in her apartment leading to questions about the report. Script
1. Chapter 1

[Interior. Busy ER waiting room, babies crying, a bicyclist holding a towel to a wound]

**Nurse**  
Alaina Newton, Don Ritter, Carlos Alverez

_( Alaina sits, staring at a crying baby in the lap of a horrible-looking mother )_

**Nurse**  
Miss Newton, do you still need emergency assistance?

**Alaina**  
_(still staring)_  
They should go before me

**Nurse**  
_(approaches Alaina)_ Miss Newton. _(Alaina doesn't respond)_ Miss Newton! (_Alaina turns to look)_  
You've already let 3 people go before you. If you don't have an actual emergency then go home and schedule an appointment with a doctor.

**Alaina**  
It's an emergency _(she grips the filled plastic garbage bag she's holding)_  
But I'm not going to die or anything…

**Nurse **_  
(confused)_  
Neither is anyone else in here or they'd be in front of you.  
Let me do my job and take you back.

(_they both get up and begin walking)_

**Nurse**  
What exactly is your emergency?  
All you wrote on your form was that you need an emergency physical examination.

**Alaina**_  
(matter-of-factly)_  
I need a rape kit done. I've been raped.

* * *

----- opening credits -----

* * *

[Interior. Hospital Hallway]

**Olivia**  
Alaina Newton, 24.  
She was home alone with her cat, perp breaks in through the roof access panel and rapes her at knife point.  
Stole some money and jewelry and her ipod.

_(Elliot approaches a table covered in bags of clothes and sheets and random objects in zip-lock baggies)_

**Elliot**  
What's all this?

**Nurse**  
Alaina brought sealed bags filled with all of the clothes she was wearing, along with everything she saw the burglar touch, to make sure we had enough evidence to find whoever did it.

**Elliot**  
That's thoughtful of her.

**Olivia**  
How is she?

**Nurse**  
Anxious. But not like the usual way.  
She wants to get the report filed and get a sketch done and get the results from the rape kit.

**Olivia**  
She wants to find out who did this to her.  
That's perfectly normal.

**Nurse**  
She's not acting perfectly normal, for someone who's been raped.

**Elliot**  
What are you trying to say?  
You don't think she was?

**Nurse**  
No, she was.  
There's vaginal tearing, bleeding, fluids.

**Elliot**  
Then what's wrong with how she's acting?

_( laughter from the hospital room )  
(Olivia and Elliot peek in room where Alaina and Male Nurse are laughing)_

[interior Hospital Room]

_( Male nurse inserts an IV needle, while Alaina turns away with eyes shut, but is smiling, listening to his story )_

**Male Nurse**  
… and this guy thinks he can sneak out of the psych ward in stolen doctor's scrubs and an IV cart rolling at his side

_( Alaina laughs. )_

**Male Nurse**  
I've never seen anything more ridiculous. And I'm done!

**Alaina**  
You're hilarious! You know you're really good at telling stories?

**Male Nurse **_  
(dropping the hint)_  
My fiancé thinks so.

**Alaina**  
Well you tell your fiancé that you made someone's worst day ever… a little less awful_.__  
(she looks at the finished IV)_ Thanks Alex.

**Olivia**  
Alaina Newton?

_(Male Nurse looks sheepish for talking so casually with rape victim)_

**Alaina**  
Yeah, that's me.

**Olivia**  
I'm detective Benson, and this is detective Stabler.

**Alaina**  
(_smiling)_  
Thanks for coming.

_( Olivia and Elliot exchange glances )_

**Alaina**  
They said I was dehydrated and had to get an IV. I hate needles.

**Olivia**  
Alaina, I know this will be hard for you, but we have to talk to you about what happened tonight.

**Alaina**  
I know you do… I mean... _(looks embarrassed)_  
I watch the show Los Angeles Sex Crimes

**Elliot**  
Ah, Hollywood's glorification of serial rapists and high-profile sex cases of actresses in Los Angeles.

**Alaina**  
The guy who plays the main lawyer is really hot.

**Elliot**  
Is that why you brought all the evidence in baggies? Because you watch that show?

**Alaina**  
Yes. I… (_no longer smiling_) I didn't know what else to do.  
It was like something right out of the show.  
At first I thought the noises were my cat.  
She gets crazy at night, sometimes even knocks stuff over.  
But this was a loud noise, and then, like, rummaging.  
It was 2:22, I remember, because I thought it was weird that the numbers were all the same.  
And. Then he was there, at my door. I…_  
( Alaina looks embarrassed _) Detective Stabler, can you close the door?

**Elliot**  
Sure

**Alaina**  
I don't know why I'm so embarrassed.  
I know it wasn't my fault. But I still don't want anyone to hear.

**Olivia**  
It's alright, Alaina. We're going to find who did this to you.  
Just tell us what happened, anything you can remember.

**Alaina**  
I remember everything… It was my first time… I was a virgin.

* * *

[int police station]

**Fin**  
A 24 year old virgin who packs up her own evidence bags and doesn't shed a tear while talking about what happened?  
Sounds like she's making it up, if you ask me.

**Wong**  
Just because she didn't cry doesn't mean she wasn't emotionally effected.  
She could be scarred so deeply that she's covering it up with an act of non-emotion and denial.

**Elliot**  
She wasn't crying, but she wasn't non-emotional…  
She was spirited: laughing when we walked in and chatting with the male nurse, but then embarrassed when she had to start talking about it.  
She even acknowledged that it was the worst day of her life.

**Olivia**  
Elliot's right. It was almost like she was talking about something that happened a long time ago that she's already come to terms with.

**Fin**  
Wonder what that means?

**Wong**  
I'd have to talk to her myself to see.  
Do you know if she's on medication or mood-altering drugs?

**Olivia**  
Just pills for A.D.D., which she said she hadn't taken for a couple of weeks because she keeps forgetting to pick up the prescription.

_(( Det. Munch enters ))_

**Munch**  
Got a hit on the DNA from the rape kit and from the evidence she brought in.  
An ex con from Jersey. Ken Miter, who's been in and out for burglary his whole life.

**Fin**  
Wonder what made him jump to sexual assault during his burglary?

**Elliot**  
Let's nab him and find out.  
Munch and Fin, see if you can bring in Alaina for a lineup, and we'll make this a solid case against Miter.

* * *

[Exterior. lumberyard]

**Elliot**  
Ken Miter?

_( Ken runs )  
( Elliot and Olivia chase him through the lumberyard until a coworker brings him down )_

**Coworker**  
That's what you get for stealing my iPod, Kenny.

**Elliot**  
So you're not just stealing from women in their homes, are you?

**Ken**  
I'm not saying anything. I have a right to a lawyer! You can't prove nothing!

**Olivia**  
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against...

* * *

[Interior. Alaina's Apartment]

**Alaina**  
You have him?

**Fin**  
Olivia and Elliot are taking him to the station now

**Alaina**  
I… I have to get my jacket. Come in. Sorry about the mess.

_(Munch looks around, observing the books on her coffee table)_

**Munch**  
You've got a lot of books about the Bible out here.

**Alaina**  
(_from the other room)_  
Yeah. I joined a Bible study a few weeks ago. You go to church?

**Munch**  
I'm Jewish.

**Alaina**  
Ahh, we can still be friends, right?

**Fin **_  
(to Munch quietly)_  
I guess that explains why she was a virgin.

**Alaina**_  
(coming back)_  
Actually, I'm really anti-abortion.

(_Fin turns around)_

**Alaina**  
Not that I think abortion should be illegal.  
You can't legalize morality, after all.  
When Jesus says "Love thy Neighbor" I think he'd rather we love the accidentally pregnant woman than a bunch of unborn cells.

_(Alaina begins searching for something)_

**Alaina**  
But me? I would never get an abortion, and I figure even if I was on the pill and the dude wore a condom, I'd still be that 1 in 1000 chick who'd get pregnant.  
And I wouldn't get rid of the baby.  
I would just much rather wait.  
Which I know sounds old-fashioned and religious and ridiculous, but it's my choice, and it's not like I'm telling other people it's what THEY should do.

_( Alaina looks embarrassed )_

**Alaina**  
Sorry, I get on a roll and talk a lot sometimes…  
Impulsivity, from not having my ADD meds.  
Luckily, I didn't get pregnant from this rapist

**Fin**  
You know you're not pregnant?

**Alaina**  
I was on my period when it happened.  
Sorry. That's gross.  
But the chances of me getting pregnant are really low.  
I'm more worried about STD's.  
Those tests come back next week.  
I never thought I'd even _need_ tests for those.  
Another reason to stay abstinent.

_(Alaina is still looking for something)_

**Munch**  
Are you looking for these?

_( he holds up her keys, taps her computer mouse while picking it up )_

**Alaina**  
Yes!

_( she takes them )_

**Alaina**  
I wish I could say it was the trauma of everything that's happened, but I lose my keys all the time.

**Munch**  
Luckily your downloaded pornography isn't lost

_( he turns the computer to her, which features a video of porn )  
( Alaina looks embarrassed )_

_

* * *

  
_

[Interior. Interrogation room, Ken is inside with his lawyer]

**DA**  
He has no alibi, we've got DNA from the scene and an ID from the victim and from a taxi-driver from outside the building that night.  
This would be a closed case if not for Detectives Fin and Munch

**Fin**  
We had to report seeing the pornography on Alaina's computer.

**Munch**  
To not report it would be a violation.

**Olivia**  
If she had been a man, you wouldn't have cared if there were a couple of porn videos on the computer.  
With a male, it'd be normal, but if it's a woman, it's worth reporting?

**Fin**  
It was in plain sight

**Elliot**  
After Munch tampered with her computer

**Fin**  
Stop acting like we were TRYING to find something against your girl.  
It just happened, okay?  
We had to report a finding of sex-related paraphernalia because of the nature of the crime.

**DA**  
Unfortunately, that's a rule usually for the perp's place and not the victim's.  
This will only hurt her case.

**Elliot**  
Why? The docs say she was raped.

**DA**  
All the defense needs is a reasonable doubt that she consented to the sex.  
When they find out she had porn on her computer, they'll make it part of their case.  
That maybe it was consensual and the physical tearing was from her being a virgin, not from her being raped.

**Olivia**  
And we didn't focus on the crime scene because of the evidence she brought in.

**DA**  
They're going to say she was trying to hide something.

* * *

[Interior. questioning room]

**Alaina**  
I look at porn. I know it's wrong but it's not a crime is it?

**Elliot**  
No, it's not.

**Olivia**  
It's just unusual in a case like this

**Alaina**  
I've seen the show Los Angeles Sex Crimes.  
I don't have to stay at the station and answer questions unless you arrest me for something.  
And I didn't do anything illegal.

**Olivia**  
Alaina, we're trying to help you.  
We need to know if there's a search of your apartment, if any other sexual paraphernalia will show up.

**Alaina**  
Wait… searching my place?  
That's why I brought everything to the hospital, so that nobody would HAVE to search my apartment!

**Olivia**  
The defense has the right to inspect the crime scene, which isn't just the things you brought with you to the hospital.

**Alaina**  
Wait, they're doing it?  
They're inspecting RIGHT NOW!?

**Elliot**  
Why are you so scared?  
What are they gonna find?

_( Alaina looks nervous, but says nothing )  
_


	2. Chapter 2

[Interior, outside of questioning room where Alaina is sitting alone, staring]

**Elliot**  
What's the damage?

**Munch**  
Nothing big, but a lot of little things are stacking up. Hardcore porn, streaming rated R sex thrillers from mainstream movie websites, romance novels… Everything with some kind of rape scene or forced sex. She is obsessed with it.

**DA**  
Why wasn't any of this part of the original investigation?

**Munch**  
The cops didn't think they had anything to investigate. They took photos of the roof access panel, where the perp broke in, and of the rooms that he rummaged through. All the rest of the evidence had been bagged up.

**Olivia**  
And now we're treating her apartment as if it belonged to the rapist, not the victim.

**Elliot**  
Maybe if she acted like a victim, we wouldn't need to investigate.

_(Tony King, Ken Miter's attorney, enters)_

**Tony King**  
She's not acting like a victim because she wasn't one.

**DA**  
Tony King… I thought you were too busy chasing ambulances and filing class actions to put it all on hold for a defense job. You must have grown a pair to allege that our rape victim isn't a victim at all.

**Tony**  
While my client was, admittedly, breaking and entering, Miss Newton seduced him into bed in order to live out a rape fantasy. It was consensual. With your witness, we're sure to have media all over this one. 24 year-old Christian good-girl obsessed with rape porn accusing a burglar with no history of assault, sexual or otherwise… We could drop the rape charge and go with breaking and entering, and keep Miss Newton's private life private.

**DA**  
You know you've got nothing that would make us drop the rape charge. His DNA was inside of her. This is an open and closed case and if you take it in front of a jury, you _will_ lose.

**Tony**  
We'll see. And I'll see you at arraignment.

_(Tony Leaves)_

**Olivia**  
She doesn't need to take the stand, does she? We've got enough physical evidence that we don't need her to testify against him.

**DA**  
If she doesn't take the stand, then the jury will never see Alaina as a victim. They'll only see her obsession with rape porn and her attempt to keep it a secret from investigators. She had no bruises on her body, no scratches, nothing except tearing inside. It doesn't look like she fought back. They need to see her and associate her with the attack and hear her testimony in order to see her as the victim.

**Elliot**  
Will getting her on the stand help? _We_ haven't even seen her act like a victim yet.

**Olivia**  
So just because she isn't acting the part, means it didn't happen?

**Elliot**  
Come on, Liv. How long have you been working with victims? How many have ever acted so nonchalant about being attacked? This stuff she looks at is pretty sick... she might be some kind of nutcase we haven't seen before.

**Olivia**  
She was attacked, Elliot. The doctors said so, the evidence says so, and she says so. It doesn't matter if she's putting on a happy face to fool everyone, it's not going to fool me. I'm going to go in there and tell her this rape wasn't her fault, no matter what kind of porn she looks at, and convince her to take the stand even though it will be embarrassing and humiliating. That's how you treat victims. Or have you forgotten?

**Elliot**  
Don't accuse me of not knowing how to do my job.

**Olivia**  
Then do it. Get Wong down here so he can sort through this porn obsession and help us figure out why she's acting this way. Wong will tell me if she's a nutcase, not you.

_(Olivia turns to enter questioning room. Elliot stops her.)_

**Elliot**  
Liv… what's wrong?

**Olivia**_  
(after a moment)_  
I have to tell a rape victim that her personal sexual fantasies that WE uncovered are going to be broadcast to the world in order to put her rapist behind bars. _(sarcastic)_ And it's making me upset. Aren't I "playing the part" and reacting how I should? Or maybe I'm a nutcase, too.

_(she stares pointedly at Elliot before entering the room)_

* * *

[interior, questioning room. ]

_(Alaina is staring at her reflection in the mirror)_

**Olivia**  
… Alaina, do you understand everything I've told you?

_(Alaina doesn't answer)_

**Olivia**  
Alaina are you okay?

**Alaina**  
No

**Olivia**  
I know this must be hard for you.

**Alaina**  
You don't know. Everything in my apartment was private. And now everyone in the police station knows. And soon everyone in the country will know. Everyone in my bible study, everyone in every church I'll ever go to, all the parents of the kids I tutor.

_(Alaina stops staring at herself in the mirror and looks at Olivia)_

**Alaina**  
I wasn't going to report what happened. I was going to take a shower, because of how dirty I felt, and I was going to file a report for the burglary and never tell anyone what really happened. But on Los Angeles Sex Crimes, I always _hated_ the characters who couldn't get their act together, who hid things from the cops and who lied and who accidentally destroyed evidence. I always told myself that if it happened to me, I would gather so much evidence, it'd be impossible for him to go free.

**Olivia**  
Alaina, it _will_ be impossible for him. You did everything right, everything you were supposed to do. He won't get away with what he did.

**Alaina**_  
(harsh whisper)_  
Won't he? Even if he goes to prison for the rest of his life, he'll have taken my virginity, my ability to be alone without totally freaking out, and he'll have taken away my privacy as every piece of porn I've looked at is shown to the world. He wins no matter what I do. How can I continue tutoring kids, or volunteering, when all that parents can think about are my private thoughts and turn-ons? _(looks like she will start getting emotional, but she stops the tears) _I'd like to go home, please.

**Olivia**  
Alaina, you're allowed to be upset. You don't have to run away.

**Alaina**_  
(fighting tears, voice desperate)_  
Please. Can't I leave?

**Olivia**  
… of course, but it'd be good if you just faced…

_(Alaina gets up and rushes out  
Olivia exits the questioning room and joins Elliot and Wong on the other side of the one-sided mirror)_

**Elliot**  
Is she going to testify?

**Olivia**  
She didn't say. She really hates showing her feelings, though. Wong, any idea what might be up? Why the obsession with rape?

**Wong**  
Rape fantasies are more common than you'd think, especially among women.

**Olivia**  
What kind of woman would fantasize about getting raped?

**Wong**  
It's often due to a desire to not be in control. Normal intercourse involves two people taking action, giving each other pleasure. For someone like Alaina, a virgin who has no sexual experience in a culture where women her age are expected to have sexual know-how… the thought of someone else in control is arousing because then she's free from expectation. She doesn't have to know how to have sex in order to participate in the sexual activity.

**Elliot**  
So she likes the idea of being actually raped? That's why she's not traumatized by the attack?

**Wong**  
For a female, being aroused by rape fantasy has absolutely nothing to do with real rape. It's just as traumatic for her than for someone who doesn't have rape fantasies. The only difference is, she's likely thought about being attacked, for real, more often than women who never think about being attacked. That's why she seems like she's handling it so well… she's probably thought about what she would do if it did happen, thought about how she would react, emotionally.

**Olivia**  
That's what she was saying, That she told herself "if I was ever attacked, I would gather evidence…"

**Wong**  
Part of her emotional recovery was done before the attack even happened. But she probably doesn't know that her rape fantasies have nothing to do with real rape. She might feel like she asked for it, or deserved it, or somehow wanted it.

**Olivia**  
But if forced-sex fantasies have nothing to do with real rape, then how can the defense use it?

**Wong**  
They convince a jury that the fantasy shaped the reality; that she saw what looked like the beginnings of one of her rape porn videos, and wanted to live it out.

**Elliot**  
So the evidence won't even matter if they think it's consensual. She has to testify or he could walk.

* * *

[interior, court, arraignment]

**Bailiff**  
Docket ending 424, The people versus Kenneth Miter. One count of breaking and entering, one count of rape in the first degree.

**Judge**  
Mr. King, what does your client plead?

**Tony**  
Not guilty, your honor.

**Judge**  
Bail, District Attorney?

**DA**  
The district requests remand without bail.

**Tony**  
Excessive, your honor! My client doesn't even have a passport – he's not a flight risk.

**DA**  
The defendant has a history of breaking and entering, stealing jewelry and selling it. He possibly has large amounts of undocumented funds. Not to mention the safety of the victim, who had Mr. Miter's DNA inside of her.

**Tony**  
From a consensual encounter. My client has no history of physical violence before this victim's allegation.

**Judge**  
There's always a first time. Kenneth Miter is to be placed under remand without bail. Adjourned. Next case.

* * *

[Interior. SVU headquarters. Night.]

_(Olivia sits at her desk, fingers pinched between her eyes.)  
(Elliot rushes in, carrying a piece of paper)_

**Elliot**  
You're here

**Olivia**  
You got one too?

**Elliot**  
We're being called to testify as to Alaina's emotional state at the hospital the night of her attack?

**Olivia**  
It's my fault. I made a note of it on the report.

_(Olivia looks down at the paper in disgust)_

**Olivia**  
I wrote that she seemed vaguely disconnected and usually happy. I didn't know what else to put down. I… I couldn't put nothing.

_(Olivia looks defeated, guilty)_

**Elliot**  
Her reactions weren't normal.

**Olivia**  
Who am I to say that they weren't normal? What makes me an expert as to what a rape victim should act like? I should've let it go until we talked to Wong. And I shouldn't have snapped at you when you brought it up... when I was the one who wrote it into the report.

**Elliot**  
You were just doing your job.

**Olivia**  
My job is to help victims. And I feel like we've done nothing but hurt this one. She does everything she's supposed to, above and beyond… and we pull her privacy into the spotlight and question her emotional state. We negated everything she did to make sure we got the bad guy.

**Elliot**  
We'll still get him.

**Olivia**  
If we don't interfere any more than we already have.

* * *

[interior. Courtroom. Opening statements]

**Tony**

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury:

Ken Miter will concede that he did break into Alaina Newton's apartment in the early morning of Wednesday, September 2, but he did so with absolutely no intent to rape her or attack her in any way. Miss Newton, as you will no doubt realize upon seeing the evidence, has an obsession with rape pornography. She was aroused by a man breaking into her home, and asked him to have intercourse with her, in order to sate her sexual desire. Ken Miter complied with her request, with the understanding that she would not file a police report for the burglary.

You will find no sign of a struggle on Miss Newton. No cuts, no bruises, no defensive wounds… Nothing! The only piece of physical evidence that points to rape is vaginal tearing, which could be the result of a virgin's inexperienced first sexual encounter. When my client left, Miss Newton was embarrassed about who she gave her virginity to, embarrassed about someone discovering her obsession with rape fantasy, so she brought the evidence to the hospital herself, to prevent investigators from seeing her hidden obsession, and to avoid responsibility for her sexual conduct.

Yes, Ken Miter broke into her home, but Miss Newton wanted him to stay, and wanted him to perform the sexual acts she'd seen so often in the pornography she attempted to keep secret.

_(Tony sits down)_

**DA**

Alaina Newton woke up at 2:22 am to the sound of what she thought was her cat making a commotion, and was horrified to realize that she had woken to the nightmare that every single woman has: A stranger in her apartment. When Ken Miter entered Miss Newton's room, he didn't know she was home… but he saw the opportunity to assert his power over a woman, so he grabbed a knife from the kitchen, came back to her room and raped her, threatening her life and the life of her pet.

She didn't fight back, terrified that anything she did would cause him to kill her, or kill her cat out of spite. When he left threatening her if she breathed a word to anyone, she bravely bagged the evidence, something she'd seen on a cop show on TV, and went to the hospital immediately. She was not hurt on the outside, but she was torn apart on the inside… something that doesn't happen when you're "turned on" and ready and willing to have sex.

Alaina Newton was raped, and her private sexual desires have nothing to do with what Ken Miter did to her.


	3. Chapter 3

[interior. Courtroom. Trial part 12]

_(Alaina is on the stand.)_

**DA**  
Alaina, at what time did you go to sleep on the night of Tuesday, September 1st?

**Alaina**  
I was in bed at 10, then watched TV for about an hour before falling asleep.

**DA**  
When did you wake up?

**Alaina**  
At 2:22 in the morning. I remember there was a noise, and I was still half-asleep; I thought it was my cat. But it wasn't.

**DA**  
What happened next?

**Alaina**  
I saw something move in the hall, and I knew someone was there. I was terrified. The only weapons I had in the house were the knives in the kitchen, and my scrapbooking cutting tools in the second bedroom. My cell phone was in my purse, next to the front door, and I don't have a landline. Well, didn't… I do now… I remember looking around my room, and realizing that I had nothing to protect myself with.

**DA**  
Then what?

**Alaina**  
He opened the door and saw me. He stared at me, like he was thinking. Then he went back into the kitchen, and came back with one of my cutting knives.

_(DA holds up bag with green-handled kitchen knife)_

**DA**  
The people's Number Five. Is this the knife, Alaina?

**Alaina**  
Yes. I was about to scream, but before I could, he said, "If you scream, I will kill you… and screw your dead body." That's when I knew he wasn't really trying to kill me.

**DA**  
What did you believe he wanted?

**Alaina**  
To rape me. All I could think of was… he doesn't _want_ to kill me, so I won't give him a reason to. I begged him to take whatever he wanted and leave, and not to touch me. He told me if I said another word, he'd cut me "like swiss cheese."

**DA**  
Did you struggle at all to fight Mr. Miter?

**Alaina**  
No. I used that knife to cut my onions for dinner. I was extra careful, because the knife was new, and very sharp. When he held it up, I just kept imagining it going into me, and I couldn't fight back. I felt… paralyzed. I did whatever he told me to do.

**DA**  
And what is it that he told you to do?

**Alaina**  
(_voice shaking slightly)_  
um… he told me to take off my pajamas, and to stand in front of him in my underwear. He stood… he stood behind me and put the knife to my neck, and started smelling my hair and licking my neck. He unclasped my bra, and pulled down my underwear, and told me to lean onto the bed, on my stomach.

_(Alaina takes a deep breath, eyes closed)_

**Alaina**_  
(calmer, more matter-of-fact)_  
That's when he raped me. When he was done he wiped himself off with my underwear. He said, if I told anyone what happened, he wouldn't rest until he'd killed my cat and then killed me. So I watched and remembered everything he touched, so that once he left I'd know what to bag up. I was afraid he'd get away with it.

**DA**  
What made you think he'd have a chance of getting away with it, with all the evidence he'd left behind?

**Alaina**  
I watch the show Los Angeles Sex Crimes… I know that rapists can get off on technicalities, no matter how strong the evidence… on improper searches, mishandling evidence, bad investigations… I couldn't stand the thought of this guy going free so that he could kill me, like he promised he would. That's why I put everything into Ziploc bags and garbage bags and brought it all with me… I told myself I would never be the victim who messed up: If I couldn't fight back and couldn't scream and keep it from happening, I'd make sure I got a good look at him, that I'd remember his voice, that I knew where his fingerprints would be and where his DNA might be.

**DA**  
Alaina, did you put all of the evidence in bags for the sole purpose of keeping investigators from a thorough search of your apartment?

**Alaina**  
No.

**DA**  
No further questions

_(Tony King stands)_

**Tony**  
Alaina, as you were leaving your apartment when Detectives Tutuola and Munch were escorting you to the police station to ID the person who broke into your apartment, what did they find on your computer?

**Alaina**  
Pornography.

**Tony**  
Were you looking at pornography after you'd been attacked?

**Alaina**  
No… It was from the day before I was attacked.

**Tony**  
What did this particular piece of pornography portray?

**Alaina**  
A woman being mugged… and then getting raped in an alley.

**Tony**  
Was that your first time looking at pornography that featured rape?

**DA**  
Objection. Relevance?

**Tony**  
I'm establishing a pattern of behavior that has a direct link to her behavior that night

**Judge**  
Overruled. Answer the question, Miss Newton.

**Alaina**  
No, it wasn't the first time I'd looked at porn like that.

**Tony**  
Before September 2nd, had you ever been sexually active?

**Alaina**  
No.

**Tony**  
Were you planning on saving your virginity for marriage?

**Alaina**  
Yes, or at least my fiancé.

**Tony**  
Would you have been disappointed with yourself if you had decided to have sex with someone other than a husband or fiancé?

**Alaina**  
Isn't that conjecture? I've never decided to have sex with someone before!

**Tony**  
You can at least guess your own feelings, though, can't you?

**Alaina**  
I don't know how I would feel. Maybe sex would be so amazing that I'd wonder why I waited so long, and I'd be happy I did it. Maybe I'd feel guilty. There's no way I can guess. All I know is that the first time I DECIDE to have sex with someone, whether it's my husband or fiancé, it will be tainted by my first time being a rape.

**Tony**_  
(realizing he's losing ground)_  
September 1st, the day before you went to the hospital, you were looking at pornography that featured women being burglarized by men, and then being raped.

**Alaina**  
Yes.

**Tony**  
We found 2 books on your nightstand

(_Tony holds up two books)_

**Tony**  
Do these books also contain forced-sex?

**Alaina**  
Yes.

**Tony**  
And when you were watching TV before bed. What were you watching?

**Alaina**  
Los Angeles Sex Crimes

**Tony**  
And what was the subject of the particular episode that you were watching?

**Alaina**  
The good lawyer was trying to uncover the tax fraud mess --- created by the _(stares at Tony, emphasizing the words at him) _ugly_, _sleazy, poorly-dressed defense lawyer with the _stupid_ tie.

**Judge**  
Miss Newton…

**Alaina**  
The actor _was_ wearing a stupid tie, your honor.

**Judge**  
Watch it.

**Tony**_  
(straightening his ugly tie)_  
What was the other storyline? The "sex crime" the lawyer was prosecuting.

**Alaina**  
There was a serial rapist who only attacked actresses who went to a certain gym.

**Tony**  
So, the night before the attack you had been looking at rape pornography, reading books about forced sex, and then you watched a—

**Alaina**_  
(to Judge)_  
Am I allowed to say that I didn't read the books that night? Cuz I didn't.

**Judge**  
You'd just answer the question truthfully, Miss Newton. Continue, Mr. King.

**Tony**  
The night before the attack you had been looking at rape pornography of women being attacked during burglaries, and then watched a TV show about sex crimes with a storyline of forced sex, is that correct?

**Alaina**  
Yes.

**Tony**  
Alaina, are you diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder?

**Alaina**  
… yes?

**Tony**  
Were you on your medication the day you were attacked?

**Alaina**  
I… No. I hadn't taken my meds in 2 weeks

**Tony**  
What is your behavior like when you have not taken your medication?

**Alaina**  
I have trouble focusing. I feel scatterbrained. I talk before knowing what I'm going to say. I interrupt people.

**Tony**  
So, you're more impulsive?

**Alaina**  
Yes.

**Tony**  
So a man enters your home, just like men do in the pornography and tv shows you watched the day before the attack, and that you'd seen on several other occasions in the past… and you haven't taken your medication which leads to you making impulsive decisions.

**DA**  
Objection. Is that a question?

**Tony**  
Withdrawn. Did you resist Mr. Miter when you were having intercourse?

**Alaina**  
No, he had a—

**Tony**  
When you were at the hospital, mere hours after your "attack," were you laughing and joking around with Alex Rodriguez, the nurse on duty?

**Alaina**_  
(seething with anger)_  
Yes. I was afraid of needles and—

**Tony**  
When you were at the hospital, did you treat your attack like a true emergency, or did you allow 3 patients to be treated before you?

**Alaina**  
My attack WAS a true emergency! I was in the emergency room, wasn't I?

**Tony**  
Answer the question! Did you let 3 patients go before you in the ER waiting room?

**DA**  
Objection! Badgering the witness!

**Judge**  
Overruled.

**Alaina**  
Yes. I did. They needed medical attention.

**Tony**  
They needed more attention than you, because you weren't really attacked

**DA**  
OBJECTION!

**Tony**  
Withdrawn. No further questions.

* * *

[interior, SVU, several hours later.]

**Olivia**  
Well that was brutal

**Elliot**  
Alaina's holding up, though. Maybe watching those cop shows really does help.

**Olivia**  
All this media _doesn't_ help.

_(Olivia looks at one of the televisions, "earlier today" superimposed on video with reporters chasing Alaina all the way from the courthouse to a car. The news story cuts to a still of her, yelling/looking angry and then a shot of blurred-out porn with the words "Fallen Angel?")_

_(Elliot turns off TV)_

**Olivia**  
She doesn't deserve all of this. She deserves justice without giving up her life to make it happen.

_(a moment passes. Elliot sighs and shifts)_

**Elliot**  
Do you wanna grab a bite before heading home? Tomorrow's our day in court.

**Olivia  
**_(gathering her things together)_  
Don't remind me. I can only hope King will give me an opportunity to make fun of his clothes.

_(phone rings)  
(elliot answers)_

**Elliot**  
Stabler.

_(Listens for a few long seconds. Looks at Olivia)_

**Elliot**  
We're on it.

_(hangs up)_

**Olivia**  
What is it?

**Elliot**  
It's Alaina.

_(Elliot grabs what he needs off the desk)_

She's been attacked again.


	4. Chapter 4

[Exterior. Night. A busy intersection east of Central Park]

_( Olivia and Elliot arrive at the same time as 2 police cruisers, lights and sirens blaring )_

_( a cop exits the first police cruiser as the siren stops )_

_( Elliot and Olivia exit their car )_

**Elliot**  
What happened?

**Cop 1**  
Got a call from a cell that sounded like someone getting beat up. It went dead after a few seconds. Alaina Newton came up as the cell's owner.

**Cop 2**  
She connected to the internet a few minutes before the call, at this intersection.

**Elliot**_  
( to small group of cops )_  
I want a 3 block sweep! Ask if anyone has seen her, and check the alleys

_( Olivia begins to run toward an alley )_

**Elliot**  
Olivia, wait!

**Olivia**  
Alaina!?

_( She looks in first alley – nothing. Olivia keeps running )_

**Olivia**  
Alaina, can you hear me?

**Elliot**  
Alaina?

_( Homeless Man passes with cart )_

**Elliot**  
Have you seen a young woman, long brown hair?

_( Homeless Man points across the street to another alley )_

**Olivia**  
Come on.

_( They run across the busy street, dodging a car )_

_( Olivia goes past a bar and into the alley. Music thuds from the bar. Several small alleyways branch from this one )_

**Olivia**  
Alaina!?

_( A muffled scream comes from the right )_

_( Olivia runs toward the scream )_

_( Alaina is on the ground, her eyes and mouth covered in duct tape. Her arms are above her head, bloody wrists handcuffed to a single pipe that disappears into the ground. )_

_( Alaina is wearing a skirt, her underwear is on the ground nearby. Her shirt is ripped and her bra is exposed. )_

**Olivia**  
Alaina! This is Olivia Benson, can you hear me?

_( Alaina nods wildly )_

**Elliot**_  
( into his radio )_  
I need a bus on East 88th street between Lexington and 3rd

**Olivia**  
Alaina, the ambulance is on the way.

_( Alaina stops struggling and starts to go limp )_

**Olivia**_  
( checking her pulse )_  
Alaina?

_( Olivia checks her breathing )_

**Olivia**  
She can't breathe.

_( Olivia rips the tape off Alaina's mouth )_

_( Alaina coughs, then gasps for gulps of air )_

**Alaina**  
I can't see. ( _gasp _) I can't see.

_( Alaina begins hyperventilating )_

**Olivia**  
Stay calm, Alaina, we're going to leave the tape on until the ambulance gets here, to keep from damaging your eyes.

_( Alaina tries to wrench her arms free, but she only cuts them into the handcuffs more )_

**Olivia**  
Alaina, honey, please try to stay still.  
( _to Elliot )_  
Don't we have a lockcutter?

_( Elliot runs to the cruisers )_

**Alaina**  
Take off the tape! _(gasp) _I can't see! PLEASE!

_( Alaina wrenches at her handcuffs again, and again )_

**Olivia**_  
( Unable to keep Alaina still )_  
Okay! Okay, I'm going to pull off the tape. Hold still.

_( Alaina finally holds still as Olivia grips the end of the tape )_

**Olivia**  
One. Two. Three.

_( Olivia pulls off the tape off of Alaina's eyes )_

_( Alaina blinks several times, then passes out )_

**Olivia**  
No! Alaina! Stay with me!

_( Elliot returns with heavy-duty lock cutters, cuts the handcuff chains. )_

_( Elliot picks up Alaina, and carries her out to where an ambulance is pulling up. )_

_( As they get her onto a gurney, Olivia climbs into the back of the ambulance. )_

_( Ambulance doors shut, Elliot watches ambulance drive off. )_

_

* * *

  
_

[ Interior. Night. Waiting area in hospital. ]

_( Olivia sits, staring with a blank gaze. )_

_( DA arrives )_

**DA**  
Olivia. Hey, how's Alaina?

**Olivia**  
Still unconscious, last I heard. But they say she's stable.

**DA**  
Where's Elliot?

**Olivia**  
Questioning the bartenders and people who were in the area, but nobody knows anything… And no evidence. It's like she was attacked by a ghost.

**DA**  
What happened?

**Olivia**  
We don't know yet. She was raped and sodomized but rape kit came back negative for fluids or DNA. Whoever did it was careful. And this time she fought back. Hard.

**DA**  
I had to come and tell you that the Ken Miter trial is still moving forward. Alaina won't need to be called to the stand again. But you and Elliot still need to show up tomorrow.

**Olivia**  
And tell them I initially didn't think she'd been raped? After what she's just been through?

**DA**  
King has already threatened to move for a mistrial if there's any mention of another attack. If you want to help her, you _can't_ mention this in court, Olivia.

**Olivia**  
Couldn't it have been one of Ken Miter's buddies getting payback? In all the times he was in prison, was he ever locked up with someone pegged with sexual assault?

**DA**  
I don't know, and unless we can make a connection between this attack and the first one, we can't bring this into the courtroom, do you understand? It'd be like Ken Miter's get out of jail free card.

**Olivia**  
Yes. _( sigh ) _And I'll tell Elliot, too.

_( Nurse enters )_

**Nurse**  
Detective Benson, she's awake.

[ interior. Hospital room ]

_( Alaina is in the bed, red marks around her eyes and mouth where the tape was. She's also badly bruised. )_

**Alaina**_  
( not looking at Olivia, in an uncharacteristically weak voice )_  
Do you believe me this time?

**Olivia**  
Of course I do. I believed you before, too.

**Alaina**  
I didn't see anything.

**Olivia**  
What?

**Alaina**  
You're here to figure out who did it… but I didn't see. I can't help you.

**Olivia**  
I know it's hard, but you have to tell me anything you remember. Anything he said or anything you saw before your eyes were covered can help

_(Alaina says nothing)_

**Olivia**  
I promise this won't be like last time. You don't have to worry about—

**Alaina**  
You think I'm trying to protect them? Why don't you believe me this time? I didn't see them!

**Olivia**  
Them? How many were there?

**Alaina**  
Three. Maybe four. I… lost count.

**Olivia**  
Alaina, what happened?

[ While Alaina explains, there are visual flashbacks of the events inter-cut with scenes of them at the hospital ]

**Alaina**  
They came at me from behind, and taped my eyes and mouth before I even knew what was happening. They pulled me. I took my phone out of my pocket and called 911. I had it programmed on speed dial after the last time…

_( long pause )_

**Olivia**  
Try to think… What did their voices sound like? Did any of them have an accent?

**Alaina**  
They never talked. They…they had this recording that they played over and over again…

[ flashback. Exterior. Alley.]

_( Alaina's eyes and mouth are taped. A gloved finger presses a "play" button and Alaina's voice comes out of the device )_

**Alaina's Voice**  
"I would never be the victim that messed up. If I couldn't fight back and couldn't scream, I'd make sure I got a good look at him, that I'd remember his voice."

[ present. Interior. Hospital. ]

**Alaina**  
It was _my voice_, from the trial. Saying all the things I'd do if I was ever attacked… and they made sure I couldn't do them! They covered my eyes so I couldn't see them, and my mouth so I couldn't scream. They never talked so I couldn't hear… I don't even know if they were all men! I tried to fight, not like last time because this time…

_( Alaina starts crying for the first time since Olivia has met her )_

**Alaina**  
This time I didn't care if I died, I just knew I couldn't go through it again. And the recording kept playing the whole time that they held me down and raped me over and over again. I knew they wouldn't leave any evidence behind and would never get caught. I thought about them going free, and Ken Miter going free too… I _wanted_ them to kill me.

_(Alaina looks at Olivia, desperate)_

**Alaina**  
Please tell me… tell me you've found something. You can figure out who did this, can't you?

_( Olivia doesn't answer )_

_(Alaina covers her face with her hands, which are covered in bandages from the handcuff injuries. )_

[music begins]

* * *

[ Montage to music ]

( Olivia and Elliot in court testifying )

( Alaina at the hospital peeling back her wrist bandages while news of her case is on the Hospital TV )

( the District Attorney talking to the jury animatedly)

( Olivia in the alley, looking for evidence for Alaina's new case )

( Alaina at home holding/inspecting a kitchen knife, then pressing it to her wrist. She drops it without doing any damage, then hunches over the sink)

( Olivia working at her desk at SVU headquarters late at night )

[music fades]

* * *

[ Interior. Courtroom. Daytime ]

_(Alaina sits near the back of the courtroom with a family member, Olivia and Elliot are standing in the back )_

**Judge**  
Has the jury reached a verdict?

**Jury Member**  
We have, your honor

**Judge**  
For the charges against Kenneth Miter for one count of rape in the first degree, how does the jury find?

**Jury Member**  
The jury finds the defendant… guilty.

_(Alaina hugs her family member in relief while the judge/jury continue – then the rest of the courtroom is filled with movement as the judge adjourns)_

_(Alaina approaches Olivia and Elliot outside of the courtroom)_

**Olivia**  
Alaina. I'm sorry about all of this. I wish we could have put him away without the trial.

**Alaina**  
I know. But at least it's over now, right? Any leads on the new case?

**Elliot**  
I wish there were, but… nothing yet.

_( Olivia senses something in Alaina )_

**Olivia**  
Unless you've remembered something?

**Alaina**  
Actually… I have.

_( Elliot gently leads Alaina to a more private corner where people can't hear )_

**Elliot**  
What do you remember?

**Alaina**  
In the cab on the way here, I smelled something like curry or spicy Indian food. It smelled exactly like one of the ones who attacked me. When I closed my eyes, it was like I was back in the alley again. And then all of a sudden, I remembered I had smelled cigarette smoke on that guy, too, and cat pee. At least I'm pretty sure it was cat pee.

**Olivia**_  
( to Elliot )_  
You think we could use any of that to help narrow the search?

**Alaina**  
I know it's not a lot, but I can't stand being a totally useless victim.

**Elliot**  
If it was all on one guy, we might be able to filter through some known sex offenders in the area with that info.

**Olivia**  
We'll let you know if anything turns up, and you let us know if you remember anything else, okay?

**Alaina**  
Sure thing.

_( Alaina walks away )_

[Exterior, Courthouse, daytime]

_( Elliot and Olivia are about to get into the car, when Fin and Munch pull up, window down )_

**Munch**  
You two must have been in a dead zone; we've been trying to call you.

**Elliot**  
What's going on?

**Munch**  
In Queens, another attack on a rape victim who recently testified at trial says she was gang raped and they had a recording of her voice, played it during the assault. Then the Jersey precinct reported in that they had one, too, same M.O.

**Elliot**  
A gang of serial rapists that attacks victims who go to trial?

**Munch**  
We'll go to Queens and you can go to Jersey.

**Olivia**  
Wait… you mean that Alaina's second assault wouldn't have happened if her case hadn't gone to trial?

**Fin**  
So far they've only hit high-profile cases where the media gets hold of the girls' testimonies.

**Munch**  
We have to go – victim's waiting at the hospital.

_( Munch and Fin drive off )_

_( Elliot looks at Olivia )_

**Elliot**  
Don't do that, Liv. You can't blame yourself.

**Olivia**  
How am I going to tell her? How do I tell Alaina that this wouldn't have happened if her first case hadn't gone to trial?

**Elliot**  
She's strong. She will learn to live with it, eventually.

**Olivia**  
Everyone has a breaking point. What if this is hers?

_( Olivia looks, and sees Alaina walking down the courtroom steps. Alaina catches Olivia's eye and gives a small, reassuring, but sad smile )_

_

* * *

  
_

End Credits

* * *

Thanks to everyone for reading! Be sure to let me know what you think!


End file.
